I’ve previously written about my preference for inkjet color quality, and that preference continues with the Brother MFC-J895DW. This little workhorse is yet another great addition to the Brother Work Smart Series of home printers. If you want to check out the other model I reviewed, please read my review of the Brother MFC-J775 All-in-One from earlier this year.
Packaging
Brother continues to do a superb job of packaging their printers for safe transport. Once more, my box arrived a little worse for wear on the outside but immaculate on the inside.
Set Up
In keeping with the trend of being easy to set up, this printer was up and running within minutes of plugging it in. The instructions were extremely easy to follow. With a few plugs, pokes, and clicks we had lift-off. I had luckily upgraded my router since I reviewed the Brother MFC-J775 so it connected to our wireless first try and never lost that connection. I noted some connectivity issues with my MFC-J775 review but confirmed my suspicions that it was my router NOT the device once I upgraded my home mesh system.
The only thing remotely like a hiccup with this setup was I had a little trouble getting the plastic protector off of two of the ink cartridges. Not sure if it was the angle or the force used as I tried to remove them, but I managed to tear two of them incorrectly and had to use a sharp object to pry off the remaining plastic. But that was easily fixed, and I didn’t even stab myself. Score.
As this dark but timely snap shows, the software setup portion took approximately 5 minutes. So adding in the time to physically unpackage it (5 minutes), time to open and install the ink (5 minutes), time to position the printer and load paper (3 minutes), and time to install the software on my PC and the app on my phone (7 minutes) this entire setup took 20 minutes from the point I picked up the box until I was completely finished.
Specifications and Features
Clicking on the image above will take you to the full-color brochure that lists all the specifications for the Brother MFC-J895DW All-in-One Inkjet printer, but a few of the highlights are:
- One Touch setup that is legitimately one touch. I pushed one button after physical setup and it did everything up until I entered my WiFi password.
- Scan from just about anywhere. You can set up your PCs, tablets, smartphones, etc. to print. They just all need to be connected to the same network as the printer.
- A mobile app that works very well to print when you’re on the move. I did most of my test printing directly from my phone this time which is where I wind up reading most of my attachments from email these days. The app was easy to set up and I noticed no delay in time received to the printer between PC and phone.
- Onboard digital display screen makes navigating options and settings a breeze.
- One of the most affordable inkjet printing options with black ink replacement cartridges that print up to 400 pages for around $9 and $13 color cartridges that print up to 400 pages means you pay less than $0.01/page for black and less than $0.05/page for color prints.
- Print resolution up to 6000 x 1200 dpi
- Duplex printing, even on legal size paper
- A color flatbed scanner scans documents up to legal size and you can scan directly to Microsoft Office, Searchable PDF, e-mail, or even to your mobile device.
- Copy resolution up to 1200 x 1200 dpi and reduction/enlargement from 25% – 400%.
- Fax enabled via a 14.4 Kbps modem and memory storage up to 200 pages
- A 2-year limited warranty is standard, plus Brother provides free technical support for the life of your product.
Thoughts and Opinions
The Brother MFC-J895DW All-in-One Inkjet printer is an excellent home printing option. It is faster, with comparable print cost and speed to the other Brother printers, extremely competitive with other home printing companies’ offerings and the price is great at just $89.99 (at the time of writing this) on Amazon. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the printer.
Pros:
- High print quality
- Easy to set up and easy to connect devices
- The range of devices (such as mobile) that you can print from is impressive. I was especially enamored of the mobile app since I read most of my email from my phone and it is much easier for me to print from there instead of going to my PC to print documents I need to keep.
- Affordable replacement ink cartridges, which means affordable prints.
- Extremely small footprint. It is not only small in width and depth but it is also a very compact device. I put it on a plant stand since I wasn’t keeping it but from looking at it, the device would easily tuck away on my china cabinet in the dining room or even on a deep shelf of a bookcase or entertainment center to keep it centrally located.
Cons: I have none. This printer addressed and corrected every small quibble I had with the MFC-775DW and then some.
If you’re in the market for a new home or small office color printer and speed, affordability of ink cartridges and ease of setup are desirable features I urge you to check out this Brother Work Smart Series dynamo.
Affiliate link to Amazon included. Using the link will not change your price but anything you buy during that session on Amazon will help feed this hungry writer via a small affiliate commission. So please consider using it. Or send me snacks.
This item was returned to Brother after the review. I was sad. I ate a cookie and it was a bit better.
